Google Is Banning Cryptomining Extensions from Chrome Store

Cryptocurrency has exploded in popularity recently, with lots of people "mining" for these digital currencies, oftentimes using illegal methods. Google wants to crack down on that, Wired reported

The tech company April 2 announced its plan to block any cryptomining extension submissions and remove all existing extensions that have mining capabilities by July.

Mining cryptocurrency can be used for good, such as UNICEF's cryptomining initiative that raises funds for children in Syria, but the technology is also used maliciously.

Previously, Google Chrome's policy permitted cryptocurrency mining in extensions, as long as that was an eextension's single purpose. Developers building these extensions failed to follow these guidelines, however. Google Chrome discovered an increasing amount of these extensions appeared to provide a function on the surface while hiding cryptocurrency mining scripts that ran without the user's knowledge or consent.

"The extensions platform provides powerful capabilities that have enabled our developer community to build a vibrant catalog of extensions that help users get the most out of Chrome," wrote James Wagner, Google Chrome's extensions platform product manager. "Unfortunately, these same capabilities have attracted malicious software developers who attempt to abuse the platform at the expense of users."